HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 348 Shares of WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC)

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its position in WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 348 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in WD-40 were worth $1,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of WD-40 by 1.7% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 321,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,975,000 after purchasing an additional 5,381 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in WD-40 by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 307,097 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,452,000 after buying an additional 5,893 shares during the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC lifted its position in WD-40 by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 211,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,574,000 after buying an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WD-40 by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 145,462 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,512,000 after buying an additional 3,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of WD-40 by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 142,222 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,238,000 after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on WD-40 from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $322.00 price objective on shares of WD-40 in a research note on Monday, November 18th.

WD-40 Stock Performance

Shares of WDFC opened at $266.54 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 52.16 and a beta of -0.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $270.51 and a 200-day moving average of $253.44. WD-40 has a one year low of $211.03 and a one year high of $292.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

WD-40 (NASDAQ:WDFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $156.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.20 million. WD-40 had a return on equity of 31.53% and a net margin of 11.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that WD-40 will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

WD-40 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is a boost from WD-40’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. WD-40’s dividend payout ratio is 73.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WD-40

In other news, Director William B. Noble sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.70, for a total value of $289,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,310.30. This represents a 11.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

WD-40 Profile

WD-40 Company develops and sells maintenance products, and homecare and cleaning products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides multi-purpose maintenance products that include aerosol sprays, non-aerosol trigger sprays, precision pens, and in liquid-bulk form products under the WD-40 Multi-Use brand name; specialty maintenance products, such as penetrants, degreasers, corrosion inhibitors, greases, lubricants, and rust removers under the WD-40 Specialist brand; and bike-specific products.